Transcript

Uncapped · STR Unpacked

Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short-term mental bulletin on the 14th of September. So England's tourist tax will not be capped, and neither will the number of nights it applies to. So the government published its response to the visitor levy consultation on Wednesday, The levy is a percentage of the accommodation price, not a flat fee per night. On the rate, the response says the government does not intend to cap on the visitor levy rate. However, this is a finely balanced issue, and the government will continue to consider the case for doing so. So local leaders will not be allowed to cap nights either. Section 5.3.7 says the government does not intend to allow local leaders. To place a cap on the number of nights for which the levy must be charged locally, as this would be operationally and administrativensome. Compare this to Edinburgh. Live since the 24th of July, 5% of the accommodation is only a portion net of the AT, capped at five consecutive nights. In England, a 14-night stay gets levied on all 14. You are the liable person. Accommodation providers would legally be responsible for calculating and collecting the levy and for paying it to the relevant levying authority and would need to notify the authority. File self-assessment returns and keep the records. There is a de minimis threshold, but the response says it is intended to exempt only occasional informal providers. So, scope is all types of short-term commercially let accommodation. And the Commons Library briefing on the same day names self-catering and short-term rentals. UK hospitality's Alan Simpson said that the 33,000 people who could lose their jobs as a result of this type during an employment crisis would be rightly furious, citing Oxford economics on a 5% levy. It is worth keeping in mind at this point that none of this is law. The overnight visitor levy bill was on the King's Beech on the 13th of May and has not yet been introduced. No rate, no start date, and the government zone marker is spending plans by March 2028. So, the rate is the number everyone is arguing out, but the night count is the one that really decides what it's going to cost you. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you tomorrow.